Difference between TCP and UDP Protocol

 Hello Everyone! Welcome to this article. In this, you learn about the difference between tcp and UDP in computer network.

In Internet Protocol traffic, users can choose between a TCP or UDP setup for their business or personal use. Each brings its own advantages and challenges regarding TCP vs. UDP features and functionality.

At the same time, UDP is known to be fast and up-to-date, yet many systems rely on TCP to download batches of information. Users will need to take a look at their specific IP requirements to make an informed decision about which protocol is best for them.

What is TCP?

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is connection-oriented, meaning that once a connection is established, data can be transmitted in two directions. TCP has built-in systems to check for errors and guarantee that data will be delivered in the order it was sent, making it an ideal protocol for transferring information.

But while TCP is inherently reliable, its feedback mechanism also results in large overhead, which translates into higher usage of available bandwidth on your network.

Examples of TCP:

• Text Communication

We are all aware of the importance of text communication in the present age. TCP is therefore used in text communication because of its reliable transmission, error control, and orderly receiving of data.

Example: WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Chat, iMessage.

• HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 

It is used to access data on the World Wide Web. It uses the TCP protocol to access web pages on the Internet due to the fact that TCP provides in-order data, error control and flow control, and retransmission of data segments.

 

• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)

It is an application layer protocol used to send emails from one system to another. SMTP uses the services of TCP to initiate a connection with an SMTP server. Once the SMTP server accepts the connection request, it allows the sender to send the mail.

Example: Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc

Advantages:

• Flow control

• Error control

• Crowd control

• The process of implementing communication

• To provide data segments

Disadvantages:

• Portions of data are not transferred immediately.

• More overhead (20-60 bytes)

• It has a large TCP header.

What is UDP?

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a simple, connectionless Internet protocol that does not require error checking and recovery services. There is no additional cost associated with initiating a connection, keeping a connection open, or terminating a connection when using UDP. Data is continuously sent to the receiver, whether it receives it or not.

Although UDP is not ideal for sending e-mail, viewing a web page, or downloading a file, it is preferred for most real-time communications such as broadcast or multitasking network transmission.

Example of UDP:

• Online Games

Most of the online games we play use User Datagram Protocol services. Since online games cannot tolerate any kind of latency UDP is widely used over TCP which is quite slow. UDP does not retransmit lost data and is a connectionless protocol which makes it very fast.

Example: All online games

• Video Conferencing

Apps like Skype, Gmeet, and Zoom, all use UDP services due to the fact that they are real-time applications and cannot tolerate any delay in receiving data.

Example: Skype, Google Meet, Zoom, and FaceTime.

• Voice Over IP(VoIP)

It's similar to video conferencing, where apps like Viber, WhatsApp, and Google Hangouts use UDP to convert our voice into digital data and transmit it over the network, hence the name VoIP.

Example: Viber, WhatsApp Voice Calling, Wi-Fi Calling.

Advantages:

• A packet made by UDP is relatively smaller than TCP (UDP header: 8 bytes).

• Connectionless transmission

• It's fast, easy and efficient.

Disadvantages:

• It cannot guarantee the delivery of data to the destination

• Lack of proper error checking mechanism

• Lost packets will not be retransmitted.

• An out-of-order packet is likely to be received.

What is the Difference Between TCP and UDP?

TCP is a connection-oriented protocol, while UDP is a connectionless protocol. A key difference between TCP and UDP is speed, as TCP is relatively slower than UDP. Overall, UDP is a much faster, simpler, and more efficient protocol, however, retransmission of lost data packets is only possible with TCP.

Another notable contrast between TCP vs. UDP is that TCP provides ordered data delivery from the client to the server (and vice versa). In contrast, UDP is not dedicated to end-to-end communication, nor does it perform receiver readiness checks (requires fewer overheads and takes up less space).

Feature	TCP	UDP
Data sequencing	Configurable	Unable to configure
Speed	Slower than UDP	Faster than TCP
Guaranteed delivery	It guarantees data delivery to the destination.	It cannot guarantee the delivery of data to the destination.
Retransmission of data	Retransmission of lost packets is possible.	There is no retransmission of lost packets.
Broadcasting	Not Supported	Supported
Connection status	An established connection is required to transmit data (the connection must be closed after the transmission is complete).	Connectionless protocol with no need to open, maintain, or terminate a connection.
Use	HTTPS, HTTP, SMTP, POP, FTP etc	Video conferencing, streaming, DNS, VoIP, etc

Conclusion

So, this is all about the difference between tcp and udp protocol. We also see the difference between tcp and udp with examples. 

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